How should I brighten up my kitchen? Part 2

Finally, the kitchen and DR are finished! I absolutely love, love, love how everything turned out. So what stayed in the kitchen? The countertops, floor and cabinets. What did I change? Ceiling and wall color, removed cabinet above sink and added a light, removed decorative trim on the hood vent, added all white dishes to my glass front cabinets and installed a new faucet. I changed out the artwork for black and white pictures I was using upstairs.

Also, you will notice I changed the backsplash. We did not do tile as we know eventually we will put in new countertops. What I did was about 40 minutes worth of time and cost absolutely nothing. I found this embossed wallpaper in an upstairs closet when we moved in, so I just cut a few pieces to fit and painted with scrubbable white paint.

In the DR I moved my china cabinet to the other wall and instead of displaying all my different patterns, I chose one pattern and used it for display. I also brought in the antique chest of drawers from the foyer to use as a sideboard since the wood tone matched closer to the wood tone in the black furniture as opposed to the previous buffet table I had in there.

LR is still needing to be painted, but I was able to sweet talk DH into letting me purchase new furniture for the LR. I ordered a sofa and two chairs, all with white slipcovers (a must have with all my pets and their hair). I am going to sew covers for all my existing throw pillows in blacks, greys and whites. I will keep everyone posted on the LR progress once we start.

You are amazing. You begin a thread to freshen up your kitchen and dining room, and in barely a month you've completely transformed your space. I'm in awe. You accomplished so much! And it all looks great! Congratulations on all your hard work. ((Now I slump off to my kitchen that resides in the same state of incompleteness it did 15 months ago when we moved back into the house.....embarrassed.....))

Sharimac
The difference is stunning. The kitchen and DR are still consistent with the house, but much lighter and cleaner of line.
I love your new backsplash. It buys you time to think and accomplishes a lot at the same time.

I am SO pleased that you and your husband are happy with the results of all your hard work. THAT makes me smile.

It's amazing what you were able to accomplish in just one month. The time you took to complete a significant transformation, on your own, was less time than it takes most of us to decide on a paint color!

Way to go!
The cosmetic changes ( and more) you made are fabulous. You truly did brighten up you kitchen. Your dining room looks fantastic too. And you accomplished all that so quickly. Congratulations.

I looked back over your pics this morning with pleasure, and I just thought of something.

Can the light over the island be lowered? More light on the front of the cabinets would really make the room feel lighter.

Can't tell from the pics if dropping the light puts it in the way or not. The chandelier style is the problem--there is so much metal below the bulbs that getting the bulbs where you would like them just may not work.